Toggle operated press



1941- I 'w. G. CLEGHORN ,0

TOGGLE OPERATED PRESS Filed Ogt. 20, 1959 s smug-sheet .1

WILL/AM a. age/mew QMWM TTOIQ/VEVS i 1941-v w. e. CLEGHORN 2,228,049

TOGGLE OPERATED PRESS Filed Oct. 20, 1939" s Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEYS Jan. 1941- w. G. CLEGHORN 2,228,049

TOGGLE OPERATED PRESS Filed Oct. 20, 1939 3 Sheets-She et 5 Patented Jan. 7, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Application October 20, 1939, Serial No. 300,322 In Great Britain August 22, 1938 2 Claims.

This invention relates to presses, particularly of the kind used in laundries', dry cleaning and clothes manufacturing and similar establishments, and in which the opening and closing of the press is obtained by means of toggle mechanism.

As is well known, presses of the kind in which pressure is obtained by the operation of toggles are diflicult to operate efficiently when pressing, in succession, articles differing widely in thickness, since, without adjustment of the press, thick articles may not allow the toggle arms to come into alignment, and hence the greatest pressure cannot be exerted, while, for'thin articles, the toggle arms may come completely into alignment without closing the press sufli'ciently. This difliculty is further increased by reason of the fact that the padding, with which one face of the press is covered, rapidly decreases in thickness with use.

This difliculty may however be avoided in a press in which toggle mechanism is used only to open and close the press and the toggle arms are always brought intoalignment, whatever the thickness of the article being pressed may be, before pressure is applied, the pressing action being obtained by a direct pressure on the lower pivot of the toggle arms after the arms have been brought into alignment. For example, it has been proposed that .the lower pivot of the toggle arms should be formed at one end of a lever pivoted, at an intermediate point on its length, to a fixed part of the frame of the press, and with the other end of which is connected a piston, working in a cylinder connected with a source of fluid under pressure. Admission of fluid to the cylinder causes the lever to rotate about its pivot, first causing the toggle arms to be straightened, accompanied by an inappreciable upward movement, and then forcing the aligned toggle arms upwards, and the moving head of the press, with which they are connected, downwards against the fixed bed of the press.

In accordance with the present invention, one cylinder or the like is provided to align the toggle arms, after which a second cylinder or the like is brought into operation and acts, through the aligned toggle arms, to press the moving head of the press against the fixed bed or buck. For example, the cylinder which operates to align the toggle arms may be connected with a further cylinder so that as the piston in the former cylinder reaches the end of its stroke, when the toggle arms are brought into alignment closing the press, it uncovers ports which allow'fluid to pass to the second mentioned cylinder.

In a preferred form of the invention, the two operating pistons are arranged as flat dia- I,

phragms to one side of each of which fluid under pressure may be applied, but in this form the valve which admits fluid under pressure to act on the second diaphragm is operated automatically by one of the toggle arms just as said arms are brought into alignment.

This preferred form of the invention is illustrated by the accompanying drawings of which Figure 1 is a side elevation showing the press open; Figure 2 is a similar view showing the press closed, some of the parts being in section,

and Figure 3 is an enlarged fragmentary section on the line 3-3, Figure 1.

As illustrated, II is the main frame of the press, 12 the buck, [3 the moving head which is carried by an arm M of a lever l5 pivoted to the frame I l at [6 and influenced by a spring I! connected at its one end with the lower arm of the lever l5 and at its other end with the frame ll near the base thereof, said spring tending to raise the head l3to the position shown in Figure 1. The lever I5 is actuated through toggle arms I8, I!) pivoted together at 20, the upper end of the tog gle arm It being pivoted to the lower arm of the lever l5 at 2|, whilst the lower end of the toggle arm [9 is pivotally mounted, on an axis 22, on a framework consisting of a flat plate 23 on opposite sides of which, and spaced therefrom diaphragms 24, 25 are secured so that between said diaphragms and said plate 23 fluid tight spaces 26, 21 are presented to which fluid under pressure may be admitted. The diaphragm 25 rests on a fixed abutment 28 secured to the frame ll of the press, and the entire mechanism is supported thereon. The diaphragm 24 acts on a bearing block 29 arranged to receive an eccentric 30 which is formed on a shaft 3| constituting the ivot of the toggle arm [9, and is secured to said arm. As will be seen in Figures 1 and 2 the throw of the eccentric (i. e. that part of greatest dimension from the axis 22) extends from the axis 22 in a direction which is transverse to the direction in which the bearing block 29 moves, hence movement of that block sets up a moment about the axis 22; consequently the eccentric 30 is caused to turn about that axis and the shaft 3| and therefore the toggle arm I9 turns with it from the position shown in Figure 1 to the position shown in Figure 2 and vice versa.

Figure 3 shows in greater detail than in Figure 2 the arrangement of the plate 23, diaphragms' 24, 25 and the bearing block 29 for the eccentric 30 and it also shows a bearing 32 for the shaft 3|. This bearing 32 is carried by a frame 33 which is bolted to the plate 23 by bolts 34, Figures 1 and 2, and which is movable as one with said plate when fluid is admitted to the space 2! between said plate 23 and the diaphragm 25, said frame 33 being guided by rods such as 35 carried by the fixed abutment 28.

In operation, admission of fluid to the space 26 between the upper diaphragm 24 and the plate 23 forces this diaphragm upwards raising the bearing block 29 relatively to the frame 33 and acting on the laterally projecting part of the eccentric 30 setting up a moment about the axis 22 and thus rotating the eccentric 30, the shaft 3| and the toggle arm l9 attached thereto, from the position shown in Figure 1, so as to bring the toggle arms l8, l9 into alignment to close the press as shown in Figure 2. Fluid is then admitted to the space 21 between the plate 23 and lower diaphragm 25 tending to force this diaphragm downwards against the fixed abutment 28 and thus lifting bodily the whole apparatus including the aligned toggle arms l8, l9 and forcing the moving head I3 of the press downwards against the fixed bed or buck l2.

To open the press, the fluid under pressure is allowed to escape from the space 26 beneath the diaphragm 24, the toggle breaks and the automatic valve allows the fluid to escape from the space 21 between the diaphragm 25 and the plate 23.

In this arrangement, the press is so arranged that in its closed position, i. e. when the toggle arms l8, H! are in alignment, the moving head I3 is not necessarily in contact with the fixed bed or buck l2, hence, articles varying in thickness will not affect the pressing action which is obtained by direct pressure applied through the aligned toggle arms l8, IS.

The means for admitting fluid under pressure to the space 21 automatically just as the toggle arms l8, l9 are brought into alignment is illustrated diagrammatically in Figures 1 and 2.

Fluid under pressure is led by a pipe 36 to a two-way valve 31 operable manually by means of a lever 38. From the casing of the valve 31 a pipe 39 leads to pipes 4|], 4| and thence to the spaces 26, 21 and a pipe 42 leads to exhaust. Normally the valve 31 is in the position shown in Figure 1 cutting off the supply of fluid under pressure and connecting the space 26 with the exhaust pipe 42. In the length of the pipe 4| is arranged a similar two-way valve 43 from the casing of which a pipe 44 leads to exhaust, but this valve has a lever 45 which lies in the path of the upper toggle arm I8 and is influenced by a compression spring 46 which tends to move said valve 43 to its closed position cutting off the supply of fluid under pressure and connecting the space 21 with the exhaust pipe 44, as shown in Figure 1.

When the valve 31 is moved from the position shown in Figure 1 to that shown in Figure 2, fluid under pressure is admitted to the space 26 by way of the pipes 36, 39 and and just as the toggle arms I8, 19 are brought into alignment the upper toggle arm I8 engages the lever and turns the valve against the action of its spring 46 from the position shown in Figure 1 to that shown in Figure 2 thus admitting fluid under pressure to the space 21 by way of the pipes 36, 39, and 4|.

When the valve 31 is returned manually to the position shown in Figure 1, the fluid under pressure in the spaces 26 and 21 flows back through the pipes and out by the pipe 42, until when the toggle arm l8 allows the spring to turn the valve 43 back to the position shown in Figure 1, fluid under pressure in the space 21 escapes by Way of the exhaust pipe 44 instead of by the exhaust pipe 42.

I claim:

1. A toggle operated'press comprising a movable press head and a fixed bed or buck, a lever pivoted on said press and carrying said movable press head, toggle arms pivotally connected with one another, one of said toggle arms being connected with said lever and the other of said toggle arms being pivotal in relation to fluid pressure actuating means, said fluid pressure actuating means including a fluid pressure cylinder arranged to align said toggle arms, a second fluid pressure cylinder arranged subsequently to press said movable press head against said fixed bed or buck through said aligned toggle arms, each of said fluid pressure cylinders having therein a piston in the form of a flat diaphragm, a movable plate arranged between said diaphragms, and means for admitting fluid under pressure to one side of each diaphragm, said movable plate carrying a frame formed with bearings for a shaft which constitutes the pivot of the adjacent toggle arm, and said movable plate and frame being arranged to raise the whole of the associated parts when fluid under pressure is admitted to the space between said movable plate and the other diaphragm.

2. A toggle operated press comprising a movable press head and a fixed bed or buck, a lever pivoted on said press and carrying said movable press head, toggle arms pivotally connected with one another, one of said toggle arms being connected with said lever and the other of said toggle arms being pivotal in relation to fluid pressure actuating means, said fluid pressure actuating means including a fluid pressure cylinder arranged to align said toggle arms, a second fluid pressure cylinder arranged subsequently to press said movable press head against said fixed bed or buck through said aligned toggle arms, each of said fluid pressure cylinders having therein a piston in the form of a flat diaphragm, a movable plate arranged between said diaphragms, means for admitting fluid under pressure to one side of each diaphragm, an eccentric secured to one end of one of said toggle arms, and a bearing block in which said eccentric is positioned on which one of said diaphragms acts to align said toggle arms, said eccentric being arranged so that its throw extends transversely of the direction of movement of said bearing block, said movable plate carrying a frame formed with bearings for a shaft which constitutes the pivot of the adjacent toggle arm and said movable plate and frame being arranged to raise the whole of the associated parts when fluid under pressure is admitted to the space between said movable plate and the other diaphragm.

WILLIAM GEORGE CLEGI-IORN. 

